Thirteen-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani who spent 50 days in Hamas captivity pled for the release of the remaining hostages as Sunday marks 100 days of the October 7 terror attack.
Shoshani was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Be’eri along with her mother Raaia Rotem Shoshani, 54, and her friend Emily Hand, 9, who had been there for a sleepover.
After spending nearly two months in captivity, she was released on November 25, the second day of the ceasefire. Shoshani was freed along with her friend, Emily Hand, the Irish-Israeli hostage, who made world headlines after she was initially thought to have been killed by Hamas.
This week, Shoshani traveled to New York from Israel with her uncle to speak at a rally that was held near the UN at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza on Friday. The first of several events taking place in New York City this weekend to mark ‘100 Days of Captivity,’ sponsored by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
‘Life as a hostage inside Gaza is not life,’ Shoshani told the crowd of demonstrators speaking for the first time about her captivity to an international audience.
Thirteen-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani who spent 50 days in captivity traveled from her home in Isreal to New York to speak at Friday’s rally held near the UN
‘I came all the way here to ask the whole world: ‘help us bring back all of the hostages home!’ ‘We can’t leave them there – their families are waiting for them. Bring them home. Please!’
Governor Kathy Hochul and Majority Leader, Senator Chuck Schumer joined the rally and called for the immediate release of the hostages and spoke of their support for Israel.
‘I want the hostages brought home. I want them brought home now,’ Hochul said holding up the dog tag that has become a symbol of solidarity. ‘And I want the rest of the world to start saying the same thing.’
‘Because it is barbaric and inhumane to hold them one day longer. Bring them home! The people of Israel have a right to defend themselves, and they have a right to bring the hostages home.’
‘I want the hostages brought home. I want them brought home now,’ Hochul said holding up the dog tag that has become a symbol of solidarity. ‘And I want the rest of the world to start saying the same thing’
United States Senate Majority Leader and NY Senator Chuck Schumer was present at the rally. He spoke with compassion as he told the families, ‘I am here to say; do not give up hope’
Hundreds gathered near the United Nations waving Israeli flags and holding up posters of the hostages while chanting, ‘Let my people go!’ and ‘Bring them home now…today.’
Schumer told the hostages families they were rallying to speak in ‘one voice,’
‘I know the last hundred days have been the worst of your lives,’ he said with compassion. ‘I am here to say, do not give up hope.’
Many family members who have loved ones in Gaza spoke including Yair Moses Finkelstein, whose parents were violently abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.
Finkelstein’s mother Margalit Berta Moses, 77, was released after 49 days, but his 79-year-old father Gadi Moses still remains in captivity.
He began to weep when he said to the crowd that ‘it has been 98 days of hell,’ and said it is ‘getting harder everyday.’
‘We are here today to cry out for the hostage of humanity,’ he said, in part.
‘I haven’t slept. Who can sleep when their father is kidnapped. Who can eat when their father is kidnapped. I haven’t shaved or cut my hair and I won’t until my father returns.’
‘The longer they are away the more danger their lives are in,’ he said, as he urged those to write to their congress members.
The family of Edan Alexander, who turned 20 while in captivity, grew up in New Jersey and moved to Israel in 2022 after graduating high school.
His family has no information about their son’s well-being, though they did not speak at the rally they stood with the other families during the emotional event.
Hila Roten Shoshani, 13 standing next to her uncle Yair Rotem spoke at the rally as the crowd applauded her for her bravery in attending the event and talking about her horror experience. Many chanted: ‘Let my people go!’ and ‘Bring the home now … today!’
Edan Alexander, 20, (pictured on front posters) from New Jersey moved to Israel in 2022 with his family. He was abducted October 7 and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Many of his loved ones gathered on Friday during the demonstration calling for his immediate release
Many of the hostages family members have no idea of their loved one is alive and haven’t had any proof of life since they were abducted on October 7
Hundreds gathered near the UN on Friday demanding the release of the hostages
A sea of Israeli flags are held up during Friday’s demonstration to mark ‘100 Days of Captivity’
Speaking through an interpreter Shoshani told DailyMail.com the days she spent in captivity was ‘like hell.’
The teen said the night before the attack she and her friend Emily Hand were having a sleepover, one of many the pair have had over the years.
They spent time on TikTok, laughed and enjoyed themselves, and watched television before falling asleep only to be awoken hours later to the sound of rockets.
They ran to the safe room and hid there for six hours, she recalled, until the terrorists stormed into their home and kidnapped them taking her, her mother Raaia, and Emily.
She said the terrorists put them into a car and drove them into Gaza where she would spend the next 50 days.
Though she did not reveal where she was being held, but her uncle Yair Rotem told DailyMail.com that his niece, his sister and friend were above ground during their time in captivity and were moved around to different apartments, though it is unclear whose apartments they were.
Shoshani said she was ‘terrified.’
She described the conditions as dark, and dirty. Food was sparse. Some days, she said, would be just be some dried pita bread and other times, food from a can.
As the bombings were going on around them, she said, she feared the terrorists would take out their anger on them because their families were getting killed.
Though she said she did not get hurt, she said ‘there were moments I was afraid I would be physically harmed.’
She explained that the terrorists would sometimes talk to her and ask questions though she could not clarify what type of questions they were asking her.
She said that there were times she did not think she would survive.
To get through it the uncertainty she was feeling, she said she’d count the days until she would be free to keep her spirits up.
On November 25, 2023, that day finally came when Shoshani and Hand, were released during the second day of the ceasefire.
But, Shoshani’s mother, who was supposed to be released with her daughter as part of the truce, was separated from her after she was reportedly told by the terrorists that she would be leaving with her daughter.
Shoshani’s uncle Yair told DailyMail.com how upset he was that the terror group broke the agreement and called it ‘a ‘psychological game.’
‘Hamas’ choice, he said. ‘They want to show the world that they want to control the situation and do what they want and that is what they wanted to do at the time.’
His sister – and Shoshani’s mother – was released four days later on November 29.
He said since their release, his sister and niece seem ‘physically okay,’ but it is hard to know how they are really doing emotionally.
According to the Missing Hostages and Family Forum, 136 hostages remain in captivity.
These prisoners are nationals from over 20 countries, and belong to five different religions and range in age from a year old to 85.